An information weblog on Indonesian contemporary art today

Labyrinth
Group ExhibitionFeb.16th, 2008-Mar.16th, 2008
an Exhibition by Hamad Khalaf and Iswanto Hartono

This series of collaborative installations by Hamad Khalaf (born in Kuwait, 1972) presents the phenomena of war in enigmatic gestures that challenge our perceptions and preconceptions. Both contemporary artists have been drown to the contemporary issue of war through different means and have harnessed unique sets of arsenals to wage and engage dialog. Khalaf’s signature has been the combination of appropriated objects of war with imagery borrowed from Greek mythology. Within the envelope of constructed narratives and values that hold a society sway, Khalaf perverts violence with decorative beauty to lay bare our fixation on war. Iswanto more straightforwardly depicts war in its global political linkages through spatial arrangements and symbol play. ..( more info )

‘(…) Largely black-white paintings with only sparks of other colours, presenting a fullness of hieroglyphs or lines like those carved in rock faces. With hands and feet she gives layers of messages, of which some are (almost) wiped out.’

Frans Groot, artist and anthropologist

Indonesian-born Juni Kusumanto (1957) has lived in the Netherlands since the age of twelve where she attended the Academy of Arts in Breda from 1991 till1995. Since 1996 she has worked as an independent artist based in Roosendaal, the Netherlands, and since 1999 also as part of a Dutch Artist Collective. Her works have been exhibited throughout the Netherlands. In addition, she actively participated in arts projects with a social development character, like a Youth and Graffiti Project. Now, after more than ten years of producing creations in a Dutch environment, she seeks to build a dialogue with arts in contemporary Indonesia. Her conception of arts is linked to the way in which she perceives life and human relations. Whilst life unfolds, one may experience it either as hardships or as a chance to transform it to one of fulfilment. Life is therefore a matter of personal choice and responsibility. Inspired by the nonviolence philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, the artist believes that the absolute truth should be one’s aim when making life choices and when relating to others. Nonviolence is a tool to practise empathy, to give, to create space, to forgive and to reach balanced human relations. It urges one to continuously research and improve oneself. In the process, self-respect and respect towards others come more and more into play…( More info : http://cemara6galeri.wordpress.com/ )